In order to choose the best paper to print the designs to be used on the badges, and to obtain the best results, the type of printer and the type of machine used to make the badges must be taken into account. Most of the problems that people attribute to the type of paper are often printer problems, or problems with the colour profile used. Sometimes the prints come out very dark, very light or even with different shades of colour than what appears on the screen. It is quite possible that you are using the right type of paper and that the solution to the problem is simply to set the colour profile correctly, which we will talk about later.

If you are using an inkjet printer, it is advisable to use coated paper. With inkjet printers, you can print at a high resolution with very good quality, which depends largely on the type of paper used. The layers of the coated paper fix the ink in the exact position, which prevents the ink from running.

If you use a laser printer, the type of paper is not that important because the quality is very similar regardless of the type of paper used. For example, you can achieve almost the same result with plain paper as with glossy paper, so in this case you should not look at the type of paper but rather the thickness of the paper, because not all sheet-forming machines accept the same thickness of paper.

Finally, we recommend to do some tests to draw your own conclusions because, as with almost everything in life, every choice differs according to individual preferences. We therefore suggest that you examine the look, feel, drying time and finish provided by the different types of paper.

Laser or inkjet printer?

Over time, the high price barrier between laser printers and inkjet printers seems to have been overcome, as there are now affordable and fair prices for both types of printers.
This leads us to wonder which type of printer might be best suited to print the drawings of the products we manufacture. When choosing a printer, several factors must be taken into account, some of which could be: the purchase price, the type of drawings to be printed, the printing speed, the quality and resolution, or the space we have to store it.

• Ink jet printers

ADVANTAGES – DISADVANTAGES
– Lower printer cost.
– Lower energy consumption.
– Cheaper consumables.
– Smaller size.
– Better colours.
– Better resolution.
– Slower speed for high-volume printing.
– Uses high quality paper.
– Higher cost per printed sheet.
– Colours in assembled drawings may be altered by humidity, rain or sunlight after a few months.

• Laser printers

ADVANTAGES – DISADVANTAGES
– High speed for high volume printing (especially in monochrome) – Lower cost per printed sheet (especially in monochrome, colour depending on make and model)
– Longer life (in thousands of printed sheets).
– The prints of the assembled models are not affected by humidity or other external factors for a long period of time.
– Slower for spaced prints (they take a long time to heat up).
– More expensive consumables (toner)
-Larger size, especially color lasers.
– Expensive repairs, because the printer is very expensive, there is no option but to pay.
– They don’t offer high resolution, or if you can’t get better resolution with inkjet ones.
– High energy consumption.

Here are our tips for choosing a printer to print the themes of your badges, magnets, key rings or medals :
If you are going to print drawings or text with little detail, it is advisable to use a laser printer, but if you are going to print several drawings with a lot of detail or even photos, it is advisable to use an inkjet printer that offers a higher resolution using high quality paper to get the best result. If you opt for a laser printer and you are going to print very detailed photos or drawings, we also advise you to use a glossy or high quality paper for best results.